After The End
by stephpotter31
Summary: I've had enough trouble for a lifetime. A continuation of Harry Potter and The Deahtly Hallows. What happened in the nineteen years? What happened to Harry, Ron, and Hermione? DEATHLY HALLOWS SPOILERS!
1. Chapter 1

"I've had enough trouble for a lifetime."

Harry turned back to Dumbledore's portrait.

"I'll come back tomorrow; there are still some things I'd like answers to."

And at that Harry turned around and headed for the door, with Ron and Hermione at his side.

"Harry?"

"Yes Professor?" said Harry as he turned around.

"Just because things happen inside your head does not mean that it is not real," said Dumbledore, with a wink to Harry.

Harry smiled and headed for Gryffindor tower. He was in no mood to return to the Great Hall tonight. He'd face everything in the morning. When the trio arrived at the portrait of the Fat Lady they realized that they didn't know the password.

"What are we going to do now?" asked Ron.

"Maybe if we ask politely she might let us in," said Hermione.

"Worth a try," said Harry as he walked up to the Fat Lady. "Um, excuse me? We don't know the password this year, so could you just tell us and let us in, surely you remember who we are."

"Ah, yes, Harry Potter," replied the Fat Lady.

"Yeah that's me, so can you tell us the password?"

"I just did."

"What? Was it "ah"? "Yes"? Oh! The password is _me_?"

"Yes. Harry Potter," said the Fat Lady as she swung open to reveal a beautiful red and gold common room.

"Looks the same as when we left it," said Ron as he flung himself onto the couch by the fire. Hermione followed suit and sat down next to Ron, resting her head on his shoulder, while Harry sat down in his favorite armchair.

"Well this has been one busy night," said Ron, putting his arm around Hermione.

Harry got the idea and decided to avoid feeling uncomfortable, so he addressed both of his friends. "I think I'm going to go to bed, see you guys in the morning."

"Oh, ok," said Hermione.

"I'll be up in a bit Harry, don't wait up for me," said Ron with a grin.

So Harry climbed the stairs towards his favorite bed in the world. He reached the door which creaked open when he placed his hands upon it. He walked over to his four poster bed and fell onto it, not even bothering to change into pajamas. There were so many thoughts going through his head that he thought it very unlikely that he would be able to sleep at all. Everything was so much of a blur that he couldn't even remember the exact order everything happened in. He felt sort of a good quality feeling toward the man he hated, he was both angry and happy with Dumbledore, and he had a strong surge of joy in the fact that he had just defeated the most dangerous and cruel wizard of all time, and in doing so, both fulfilled the prophecy and took the wizarding world out of a state of open warfare. He knew that everything would change now, and it would of course be for the better. He would be remembered forever as _The Boy Who Lived_, _The Chosen One_, and most importantly _The Boy Who defeated He Who Must Not Be Named_. Harry rolled over to face the window and wondered what tomorrow would bring.


	2. Explaining

Harry awoke the next morning to hear the snores from Ron filling the dormitory. He glanced down at his watch; it was already eleven thirty in the morning. He looked around at the other beds in the room; they were all empty. Harry had no idea if any of his roommates had slept here last night or not. He decided to go get a shower and then see if Ron was awake.

When he returned, Ron was still snoring away, so Harry decided to go down in the common room and wait for him. When he reached the bottom of the stairs, he saw Hermione sitting on the couch, staring into the fire.

"Morning," said Harry as he sat down next to her.

She looked up at him, and he saw that she had been crying, probably the whole night.

"Hermione, what's wrong?"

She burst into tears and flung herself onto Harry's chest. Harry hugged her awkwardly and tried to calm her down.

"What's wrong?" he asked again.

"It's…just that…all…people…died…help…you."

She was crying too much for Harry to fully understand her.

"Hermione, please stop crying." He waited until she got ahold of herself. "Now, what's wrong?"

"It's just that…all these people…died to help you…and then you finished…him…off… so they didn't…die in vain."

"Oh, Hermione. It's okay. It's all over now. We can get on with our lives now. It's okay."

Harry didn't know what to do, she was crying uncontrollably. He was so happy to see Ron coming down the stairs. Hermione let go of Harry and ran to Ron, embracing him in a very passionate kiss. When they let go of each other, Harry swore he heard Ron whisper, "I had fun last night." Then, not wanting to feel uncomfortable, Harry said, "Let's go down to breakfast."

As the trio approached the Great Hall, they noticed that it was unusually quiet.

"Might as well go see what's going on," said Ron.

Walking in front of the other two, Harry pushed open the doors to see all the house tables full of students and members of the order. No one seemed to be sitting with their respective houses. As soon as the trio stepped into the Great Hall, the whole room erupted into applause. Everybody was on their feet, facing Harry, Ron, and Hermione. All the remaining teachers (that weren't Death Eaters) were sitting at the staff table in the front. Professor McGonagall motioned for the trio to join her at the front. When they reached her, she gave all three of them a hug before silencing the hall.

"We stand here today, remembering those who fought and died for us, thanking those who fought and survived for us, and of course congratulating the golden trio! All three will go down in history, but one will stand out more than anyone in wizarding history, Harry Potter!" and at this, the whole Hall burst into applause and whistles. "Harry would you like to say something?" said Professor McGonagall.

"Um, yes," said Harry as he walked forward. "Hi. Well, as you all know, last night Lord Voldemort was defeated. I would ask that if anyone talks about him, to please call him Tom Riddle. Now, I will not take full responsibility for killing him. There are a lot of people who have helped me. To name a few, wither living or dead; Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger, Professor Dumbledore, Professor Snape, Dobby, Neville Longbottom, Luna Lovegood, all the members of the DA, all the members of the Order, and of course, all of you. Only a select few will truly know how I defeated Tom Riddle and the reason I faked my own death. Just to clear one thing up though, I _was_ the chosen one."

And at that, the whole Hall broke into applause again. Harry spotted the Weasleys sitting at what used to be the Hufflepuff table. Harry motioned for Ron and Hermione to follow and sit with him. As they sat down the empty table turned into a gigantic buffet. The next thing Harry knew, he was so full he couldn't eat another thing. As the food disappeared, he had a feeling that someone was watching him. He looked up to see Professor McGonagall looking straight at him from her place at the head table. Everybody in the Great Hall was getting up and heading outside to enjoy the beautiful day. Harry leaned over to Ron and Hermione and said, "I'll meet you guys back in the common room later. There's some stuff I have to do." He got up and walked to where Professor McGonagall stood waiting for him.

"I want to talk to you for a moment in my office Harry, if that's okay."

"Yeah, sure."

They left the Great Hall and headed to Professor McGonagall's office. When they entered, Harry sat down in the chair across from the desk and waited for Professor McGonagall to speak.

"Harry, since this is all over now, do you think you can explain everything to me?"

Harry knew that she would ask this. He knew that he would have to retell this story to everyone in the order and all his closets friends, but he didn't seem to mind.

"Well Professor, I think I can, but I'll have to start from the very beginning."

So Harry told her everything, starting with the prophecy. The only parts he left out were that Snape killed Dumbledore on his orders, and that he, Harry, talked to Dumbledore when he was between life and death. When he was done, Professor McGonagall was in shock.

"Oh my, Harry," was all she could get out.

"Oh, and there's something else too. Snape was ours."

"What? Harry, how can you think that after he killed Dumbledore?"

"Dumbledore was dying anyway, he told Snape to kill him."

"What?"

"One of the horcruxes I just told you about, the ring, is what made Dumbledore's hand go black. He only had a year left anyway."

"Oh my goodness."

"Yeah, and that's not it, either. Snape loved my mum, that's why he turned good."

"Snape loved Lily? I never would have guessed!"

"When Snape died, I was hiding in a tunnel. When Tom Riddle left after he killed Snape, I walked over to him. He gave me a bunch of memories, that's how I knew I had to die. The last thing he said to me was "Look at me," because he wanted to see my mum's eyes."

"Oh Harry!" At this point, McGonagall was crying.

"Please don't cry, Professor," said Harry weakly.

"These are tears of joy, Harry, not sadness."

"Right. I have a question though… Professor, why is there no one here from the Ministry?"

"When Vold-Tom Riddle killed Scrimgeour, we didn't know who to trust. All the Death Eaters have been caught by the Order now, though. The members of the Order are currently controlling the Ministry, which is good for everybody."

"Great!" said Harry. "Sorry Professor, but I have to go now; I have something else to attend to."

"Okay Harry. Oh, one other thing though, there's going to be an Order meeting later on tonight to arrange funerals and such. Tom Riddle's body is still in a chamber off the Entrance Hall. The Order is waiting on your instructions as to what to do with it. It will all be discussed tonight. Mr. Weasley will inform you where and when it is."

"Right. See you then."

Harry got up and walked out of the office. He climbed the stairs until he finally reached the stone gargoyle.

"Go on up, Harry Potter," said the gargoyle as he approached it.

"Thanks."

Harry pushed open the Headmaster's door to see that all the portraits were empty except Dumbledore's and a new one right next to him, Severus Snape.


	3. The Portrait Of Severus Snape

"Hello, Harry," said Dumbledore.

Harry was in so much shock that he didn't even hear Dumbledore address him. In the recent events, he had completely forgotten that Snape had been a headmaster, and therefore would get a portrait.

"Harry? Are you still with us?" said Dumbledore with concern.

"Yes, Albus, the boy is still with us. He is just wondering why a greasy haired git like me got a portrait," said Snape.

"I don't think you're a greasy haired git, Professor."

"Neither do I, Harry," said Dumbledore looking at Snape.

"Everybody knows what you did, Snape. I told Riddle before he died. Everybody respects what you did," said Harry.

"Thank you, Potter, but I don't need the respect of anybody, much less teenagers."

"You know what I think, Snape? I think that you really do care, and you put up this arrogant shield to make it seem like you're a dreadful man. It's your fault that I hated you. You hated me because I'm James Potter's son. It's not my fault that you were enemies. If you loved Lily, you should have showed some liking towards me."

"See Severus, Harry would have wanted to know before last night," said Dumbledore

"Well, it doesn't matter now, nothing matters much now," said Snape angrily.

"So what? At least prove that the man that I saw in those memories was really you!" said Harry.

"How much of the conversation between me and Riddle did you hear?"

"Um, you wanted to go and find me for him, he wouldn't let you, he asked you about why the Elder Wand wouldn't work properly for him, and then he…then he killed you."

"Do you know why I want to go and find you?"

"Yes, to show me those memories."

"No, to _tell_ you those memories. I would have done anything to have been able to tell you in person. I thought that as soon as that snake came towards me that I had failed Albus, failed Lily, and failed you. I had no idea you were so close by. When you came out of that tunnel, I was happier than I have been in my life. I knew that I couldn't tell you then, so I had to show you. The last thing I wanted to see before I died was Lily's eyes, and you, Harry."

Harry looked from Snape to Dumbledore, and back to Snape with confusion all over his face. Why, after all this time was Snape finally calling him by his first name, and actually showing come liking toward him?

"Sir, did you change when you died?"

Dumbledore chuckled. Snape looked grim.

"Everybody changes, Harry, at some point in their life. It just took Severus a little bit longer to show everybody."

Harry looked back at Snape.

"Does this mean I have to call you Severus?"

"No, Harry. I much prefer my surname."

"Okay."

"Now, I'm assuming you want a word with Dumbledore?"

"Yes sir."

"Well then, I'll go visit Spinner's End. Goodbye, Harry." And at that, Snape disappeared from his portrait and Harry and Dumbledore were left alone.

"Well, the good thing about me being dead is that if you are to get mad and destroy this office, as you did two years ago, you cannot harm me," said Dumbledore with a chuckle.

"I'm not planning on getting mad. I'm over that, I think."

"That's good. Now, what is it that you wish to discuss with me?" said Dumbledore as his eyes gave Harry the x-ray sensation that he was all too used to.

"A lot of things, actually. I don't even know where to start."

"Perhaps at the beginning."

"Right. Well, first I was wondering why you didn't even tell me that…that…why didn't you ever tell me _everything_?"


	4. Answers to everything

"Well, as I've told you, Harry; I feared that you would fail as I have failed. I wanted you to make your own mistakes along the way," said Dumbledore.

"You said that about why you didn't tell me about the Hallows, I want to know why you didn't tell me about how you were dying, about me being the seventh Horcrux, about Snape being good!"

"I told you I trusted Severus," said Dumbledore simply.

"Yes, but you never told me why!" said Harry.

"Severus made me promise not to reveal that to anyone, especially you, Harry."

"But why didn't he want me to know the truth?" asked Harry.

"I have no idea. You will have to ask him that yourself, Harry."

"Fine. What about the other two things?"

"Well, as to me dying, no one knew besides Severus," said Dumbledore.

"But why didn't you tell me?" interrupted Harry.

"If you let me finish, dear boy, you will know."

"Sorry. Please continue, Professor."

"I didn't tell anyone, Harry, because I didn't want people to feel sorry for me. My time

was coming anyway; I just put a time limit on it. I didn't tell you because, as I'm sure you know, you have a "saving people" problem. I knew that if I told you, you would put all of your energy into trying to find a way to prevent it, and there were far more important things for you to be concentrating on."

"But all this time I've been wanting to kill Snape! If I had seen him in the forest, or if Tom Riddle had allowed him to come find me, I would have killed him before he had a chance to tell me anything," said Harry.

"That, Harry, was my mistake. I'm just thankful that you found him, even if it was at the last minute," said Dumbledore

"Yeah, well, that's just grand, isn't it?"

"I am terribly sorry, Harry."

"Right. What about the most important thing?" asked Harry.

"About you being the last Horcrux? That, I told myself, I would never tell you until the last minute for a reason. What would you have done if, in your first year here at Hogwarts, I had told you _everything_?"

"I would've left," said Harry simply.

"Exactly! You may think, looking on it now, that I, to use Severus's words, raised you like a pig for slaughter. Up to your forth year, that is what I feared I was doing. But when you came out of that maze with the cut on your arm from where Tom Riddle used your blood to bring him back to his own body, I knew then that everything had changed. I did not know exactly what it meant, but I had a good idea. I knew that when Severus was to tell you that you indeed had to die, you would make sure that it truly meant the end of Tom Riddle. I was right. You not only trusted Mr. Weasley and Ms. Granger, but also Mr. Longbottom."

"Well, I thought that I was about to die, and I knew I couldn't kill the snake before Tom Riddle finished me off, so it just seemed right for Neville to know," said Harry.

"And it was right. Mr. Longbottom finished off Nagini," said Dumbledore.

Harry gazed out the window to see the Quidditch pitch and remembered just how much he missed chasing that little golden ball.

"How did you make that Snitch open at that certain moment?" asked Harry as he remembered the Snitch.

"Oh, some very complicated magic, I must say. I knew the Minister would go through and examine everything I left for everybody, especially you, and I wanted you to retrieve the stone when you knew you were walking towards where those people that you were about to bring back were. Did you like it?"

"Yes, very much. They gave me the courage to keep going, just talking to them and seeing their faces. But I wondered why you didn't come?"

"I think the reason you didn't summon me was because you had too many untrue facts in your head about me, and what you saw in the pensieve didn't help your memory of me either, I daresay," said Dumbledore.

"Well, no, not really," said Harry.

Dumbledore chuckled at this. "Sometimes, we believe we know somebody, only to find out later that we really only knew certain parts in their lives. One thing I do regret not telling you about my past, Harry, is that I grew up in Godric's Hollow as well. I'm not even really sure why I never told you that."

"Professor, what did you really see when you looked into The Mirror of Erised? You told me it was socks," asked Harry.

"Well, Harry, it certainly wasn't socks. No, I saw precisely what you see, my family standing next to me. When I first discovered the mirror, I would sit in front of it for days, just looking at them. I eventually realized that nothing could bring back the dead."

"Thank you, Professor, for finally telling me everything."

"You're very welcome, Harry."

"When Professor Snape gets back, can you let me know? I want to talk to him again," said Harry.

"Certainly, I will send a message with Professor McGonagall," said Dumbledore.

"Thanks. Well, I'm supposed to meet Ron and Hermione, sir," said Harry.

"Well, you don't want to keep them waiting, off you go."


End file.
